Mahoutsukai no Yome – 15

Mahoutsukai no Yome has been making it look so easy that it’s no surprise when they do it again and again. So far this adaptation has been pretty much flawless, and the stuff that was actually in this episode was no exception. I won’t be surprised if we see some rare disappointment from manga readers this week though – not for what was in the ep but for what wasn’t.

You may have picked up on this by now, but most of the episode cliffhangers (and this is an anime decision, since they can choose to end an episode wherever they want) have been feints. And for the most part last week’s was no exception, as Oberon’s presence at Elias’ doorstep really didn’t have anything sinister to it – he was there to confiscate and to scold a bit, but not to punish. Turns out Chise’s binding ring gave out under its own power – or rather, under the strain of the massive magical power that making the fairy ointment caused to flow through Chise’s body. And when Oberon orders Elias to bring Chise to the Land of Shadows to heal, Elias is too desperate to put up much of a fight.

Did the mischievous faerie king have an ulterior motive here? That’s certainly the opinion of Shannon, the doctor who Oberon places in charge of Chise’s recuperation. Shannon has an interesting story – she was part of a “spirited away” scenario, having been swapped with a stolen human child. The kicker here is that child was Shanahan, who – after growing up and spending 50 years in the land of faerie, has become a fae creature of sorts himself. Not only that, he and Shannon are now married – she having returned after feeling too much an outsider in the human world for never aging (I suspect there were a lot of hats and bandanas in her wardrobe).

Shannon’s bedside manner is certainly different, in whatever world she practices medicine. After removing the bandages from Chise’s eyes she takes her to a pond where the waters have healing powers, and proceeds to seemingly attempt to drown her. Perhaps this is nothing more complicated than what she says – trying to force Chise to fight to live – but faerie are inscrutable creatures at the best of times. If that was her play it worked, and it must be noted that it was Elias’ face and Elias’ words that Chise saw and was inspired to fight by.

Coming here to this place can’t have been easy for Elias, given the obvious disdain in which he’s held by the Fae. Despite the “poison” in the human world which Titania warns him of, Elias resists her call to come live in the Land of Shadows with Chise, for as much as humans fear him, it’s among humans where Elias has had his rare moments of connection. And as Chise has started to teach him about the emotional world of humans Elias has become ever more curious about them.

Meanwhile, poor Silky is left to mind the store on her own, and for a being such as she being alone is a deeply unnatural and existentially traumatic state. Since time passes more slowly on the other side, a few days for Chise and Elias stretch into months for Silky – months alone, where she cleans what’s already clean and dreams of a past, where she was a lonely banshee bereft of the humans she haunted (and thus, of her voice). She’s such a pitiful creature, waiting at the wreck of their house, that even the passing Leanan Sídhe (including Redcurrant) see her as an object of pity. Fortunately, Spriggan comes along, and he takes her to a new house where he says the family “observes the old ways” – a house that should look very familiar.

This sequence is quite beautifully done, especially the moment of transformation from Banshee to Silky, the “redecorating“, and the return of Chise and Elias at long last to the house. But it must be noted that this passage was a good deal longer in the manga, certainly enough to cover an entire episode rather than just the B-part here. If you’re interested you might want to give it a read, since there’s some wonderful stuff from Silky’s past that didn’t make it into the episode and there’s no reason to think it will be included later there’s not really a risk of spoiling. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is a complaint for me, but it is a disappointment since I really loved those pages – and mild as it is, it’s notable as disappointments have been few and far-between with this adaptation.

I was a little disappointed that Silky’s backstory got trimmed back, and this episode is the first time I felt the story was rushed. Still, it was enjoyable, and I love the attention to detail in Silky’s Banshee design, particularly with her blood-shot eyes.

One question I have (and have had since reading the manga) is how does Banshee become Silky? Is her transformation from one type of fae into another a result of her own will, or is it due to magic from Spriggan? I know in art (specifically the sculpture in Parkland Walk, London by Marilyn Collins) Spriggans are sometimes mistaken for the Green Man, a figure of regeneration and rebirth, so I don’t know if Kore Yamazaki intended to blend the two legends together here, or if the artist intends for fae to be able to change their profession at will, much like humans can.

Well, I don’t think it’s a manga spoiler because I don’t even remember for sure, and I don’t think the manga goes into detail anyway. But Show Spoiler ▼

I think “Silky” is supposed to a sort of brownie-like creature, a different sort of faerie than a banshee. I always assumed Spriggan had the power as the King & Queen’s “chief of staff” to enact such a transformation.

Yeah, a good episode this week, but I was one of those a bit disappointed with what was omitted…

Overall, I guess we should be happy with what we got, since the studio had to deal with time constraints and whatever time table they had planned and had to stick to.

But in the end, I still wish they had been left in… SPOILERSShow Spoiler ▼

…when Elias is holding Chise, you can hear some strange noises yet Elias doesn’t say anything. I remember watching a reaction to this episode and the reactor wonders out aloud “Is he holding on to her too tight or something?”. In the manga, Elias actually says that he can hear her flesh and organs rending themselves apart. That’s the source of those sickening noises you hear.

After Silky hangs the bells on the door and “redecorates” the house, she looks back to the front door expectantly and is met with silence. In the manga, the doorbell rings almost immediately and Silky quickly rushes to open the door – to find Simon standing there. “Hullo there” is what he wanted to say but was cut off when Silky slams the door in his face. He inquires about Ainsworth and is sent away.

She’s then visited by some muryans who were playing shape-shifting and now found themselves stuck in their ant forms. They ask if the Magus (Elias) can change them back but Silky shakes her head. She gives them some sweets and they are happily on their way.

In the flashback, when Silky is walking over the field and sees the lights of a nearby village, she reminisces to happier times as one of many Banshees haunting a clan. In one scene, a young mother is trying to pacify a crying baby, saying “Now, now, stop your crying. If you keep it up, the family Banshee might take you away and make you one of their own”. Outside the window, Silky and another banshee are peeking in and smile to themselves at the sight of the little one.

Another scene has Silky and a chorus of Banshees wailing over a grave. Two brothers hear the wailing and look out the window in the pouring rain and remark how their “father was a good man” and that “they say a chorus of Banshees will come together to mark the passing of someone like him”.

These all show the role that Silky played as her family’s Banshee and how broken she was when the clan died out. Hence her words to Spriggan… “…All I wanted…was more time…with them…”.

Just wanted to say, if anyone is interested in reading these chapters for themselves and if you can find the manga, the chapters covered in this episode are: Chapter 23 – Fools Rush In Where Angels Fear to Tread and Chapter 24 – There’s No Place Like Home.

I have been reading the manga for since it started…2013? I was not disappointed with this. The anime is very focused on Chise x Elias. Which I like. I think their beauty and the beast fantasy/romance is cute. I feel like the manga focuses more on just Chise. Silky’s past is more in the manga, but a little too drawn out for a side character that does not effect the plot.
I was actually more disappointed with Ruth’s episode. As he is more important in Chise’s life and I felt that their bond was beautifully animated but not focused on emotionally. Including this episode. Honestly, I was originally excited about this adaption and still excited about it. It is beautifully animated and directed, and getting people interested in a great manga.

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